I know that some of these albums are going to feel like time capsules more than others, but CrazySexyCool hits like an album that has aged a particularly significant amount. Not their fault, of course. It's our fault, as a society, for revisiting and reinventing pretty much every goddamn genre under the sun except '90s post-new jack swing R&B. Erika de Casier tried, to no avail.
The suave, eternally cool TLC live on because they were the cream of the crop, but even the cream sounds ancient in the light of day. Lots of filler on this album, basically.
I'm drawn to the hits, obviously. I always am. Nostalgia usually gives an outdated sound the boost that it needs. "Creep"? "Waterfalls"? C'mon. If you were born in the '80s and you still hate these songs, you're the worst kind of poseur. I remember "Waterfalls" was included on some Grammys compilation disc my parents got from one of those pay-for-one-album-get-twelve-free mail-order clubs back in the day. I spent a lot of years wondering if it was okay to love songs like this.
I'm also drawn to the weird tunes. I could see a song like "Diggin' on You" landing flat in 1994, because of the hokey synths, but as Babyface / Puffy Combs / Organized Noize sound of the '90s goes farther and farther out of style, I feel like the outliers stand tall. But what the fuck do I know? I'm over here making dumb assumptions based on one album (or two) and a childhood of Top 40 radio. Give me the loopy Prince cover "If I Was Your Girlfriend" all day.
Here's one more assumption before we call it a day with TLC and let them fade into yesteryear: was it normal for a female R&B artist/group to start their album with an intro featuring a male peer's voice? I'm thinking of Missy Elliott here. Like Elliott three years later, TLC did not need anyone to hold the torch for them. Filler or no, CrazySexyCool is the sound of a genre at its peak.
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